Salt in My Kitchen ....series

 

 Salt in my Kitchen

By:

Jeanette Lockerbie

 

The Twenty-Four-Hour Virus

Bible Reading:

 

 do not let the sun go down on your wrath, 27 nor give place to the devil. 28 Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. 29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. 32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you.

Ephesians 4:26b-32

 

A young professional couple in New York take the above verse literally. They admit:

"Although sometimes it's way past our bedtime before we settle a difference, we've made this rule. We never say 'Good-night' to each other until we have cleared up whatever has caused strained relations during the during the day. Better to get it out of our system. Who wants to start a day with a virus of misunderstanding left over from yesterday?"

 

Wouldn't you agree that this is sound reasoning? Why cloud the morning horizon? Each day brings its own quota of human problems. No need to aggravate these by aggregating them.

 

An experienced minister had through the years offered God's cure for the virus of misunderstanding, bitterness, and anger to every couple he has united in marriage.

 

"You think today that you will never need this advice," he tells the shiny-eyed bride and the proud groom as he quotes:

 

"And be ye kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." vs. 32

 

This is God's prescription and, taken before bedtime, it is guaranteed to work in less than twenty-four hours. Neglecting any virus is asking for trouble and complications. Would not this be a good night to try God's sure cure?

 

 

 

 

Poetry Corner

Perchance thou, too, hast camped by such sweet waters,
And quenched with joy thy weary, parched soul's thirst;
To find, as time goes on, thy streamlet alters
From what it was at first.

Hearts that have cheered, or soothed, or blest, or strengthened;
Loves that have lavished so unstintedly;
Joys, treasured joys--have passed, as time hath lengthened,
Into obscurity.

If thus, ah soul, the brook thy heart hath cherished
Doth fail thee now--no more thy thirst assuage--
If its once glad refreshing streams have perished,
Let HIM thy heart engage.

He will not fail, nor mock, nor disappoint thee;
His consolations change not with the years;
With oil of joy He surely will anoint thee,
And wipe away thy tears.
--J. D. Smith

Bible Marking 2nd series

Bible Marking Guide

 

by:

John Earnhardt

Spiritualism - Sp

"One of Satan's most effective ways to deceive humanity is through counterfeit supernatural manifestations."

1.     But Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers; so the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments. 12 For every man threw down his rod, and they became serpents. But Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods. 13 And Pharaoh's heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, as the Lord had said.    Exodus 7:11-13

2.     'Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits; do not seek after them, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God. Leviticus 19:31

3. 'And the person who turns to mediums and familiar spirits, to prostitute himself with them, I will set My face against that person and cut him off from his people. Leviticus 20:6

4.     'A man or a woman who is a medium, or who has familiar spirits, shall surely be put to death; they shall stone them with stones. Their blood shall be upon them.' "    Leviticus 20:27

5.     There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, 11 or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. 12 For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord, and because of these abominations the Lord your God drives them out from before you. Deuteronomy 18:10-12

6. So Saul died for his unfaithfulness which he had committed against the Lord, because he did not keep the word of the Lord, and also because he consulted a medium for guidance.  
  1 Chronicles 10:13

7. And when they say to you, "Seek those who are mediums and wizards, who whisper and mutter," should not a people seek their God? Should they seek the dead on behalf of the living? 20 To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. Isaiah 8:19-20

8.     And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14 For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. 15 "Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame." Revelation 16:13-15

9.     For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.    2 Corinthians 11:13-15

10.     Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons,    1 Timothy 4:1
 

Sermon on the Mount...series...Foundation Work

The Sermon on the Mount by Carl Heinrich Bloch

 The Beatitudes

Foundation Work

Last week I began a series on The Beatitudes, which now I am feeling will actually be a series on the Sermon on the Mount... Notice the change in the title of this series.

 

I think that I missed an opportunity to build some ground work to begin this series, so today we will back up just a bit to do so.

 

One of the things that I think would be a good idea to get a better understanding of before we move forward with the Beatitudes is the meaning of the word blessed.

 

In my Andrews Study Bible, I found a great explanation that I would like to share with you:

 

"Blessed ~ Some have translated this as "happy." But it is doubtful that Jesus is speaking of the subjective state of happiness. The objective state of blessedness is independent of outward circumstances."  

 

The desire to be happy is a natural desire that we all have- it was placed in us when we were created. The easiest way to find true happiness in life is to be obedient to God's Word. When we try to achieve happiness by following the world's way- we are often left with emptiness instead. True happiness is my desire.

 

"Jesus shows his followers how man ought to live- not simply according to a set of rules but by an inner revolution of attitude and outlook. The glorious thing is that having set a seemingly impossible standard, he went on to give men the power to live up to it."

 Eerdmans' Concise Bible Handbook p. 264

 

I am so thankful that God has given us not only clear instructions to finding true happiness but He has also give us everything needed to achieve it.

And before I end this post - I would like to share a quote from a special book that basically condenses the 1st of the beatitudes in this one paragraph.

 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
Matthew 5:3
 

  "He who feels whole, who thinks that he is reasonably good, and is contented with his condition, does not seek to become a partaker of the grace and righteousness of Christ. Pride feels no need, and so it closes the heart against Christ and the infinite blessings He came to give. There is no room for Jesus in the heart of such a person. Those who are rich and honorable in their own eyes do not ask in faith, and receive the blessing of God. They feel that they are full, therefore they go away empty. Those who know that they cannot possibly save themselves, or of themselves do any righteous action, are the ones who appreciate the help that Christ can bestow. They are the poor in spirit, whom He declares to be blessed."

quote from "Thoughts From the Mount of Blessings" page 7

Now we are ready for the next beatitude next time. :O)



What a Promise with a Bonus

He shall deliver you in six troubles, Yes, in seven no evil shall touch you.

Job 5:19

 

I have wondered what this verse meant by 6 troubles and then when I it says "in seven"? Well I looked it up in my Bible Commentary and I was very glad I did.

 

It says:

"An expression found also in Ugaritic poetry. These numbers should not be taken literally. Six means many- seven means more." Is that not the neatest things!

So -

 He shall deliver you in many troubles, Yes, in more no evil shall touch you.

 

That really encourages me, and I bet it is encouraging to you as well.

Have a blessed day :O)

 

The Old and the New Trails

 About two years ago I shared with you where I walked. You can click HERE to check it out.

A little over a month ago - I started walking. But this time I have not been going to the park to walk on the trail. There are a couple of reasons why I have not been going to the park. Even though it is only about 1 - 2 miles from my home - it would still use gas to get there and back. And with gas prices being the way they are and our finances being tight - I can not justify the usage of gas. Especially when I have a perfectly good place to walk from my home.

I live on a fairly busy road- Many people use our road to get to a nearby highway  - that is about 5-6 miles away - or to another busy road the other direction. So the very first part and the very last part of my walk each day is on a road that is a little busier than I'd like to be walking on- but once I get to a nearby road- this road takes me to a wonderful little neighborhood. When I first turn onto this road the first thing I see is a sign:

The way the road is - I can basically walk a figure 8 - although one end of the figure 8 is much smaller than the other side. There is basically a circle that is about 1/3-1/2 of a mile - depending on if you walk on the inside of the road or the outside of the road. I love this little neighborhood. There are a lot of big trees to provide a decent amount of shade- which has been a real blessing for me this past week - I have not been able to wear my contacts so I have been wearing my glasses - well I can't wear my sunglasses when I have my sunglasses on. And I have not been able to buy the sunglasses attachment thing for me glasses yet. So the shade has been nice. The neighborhood is quiet- mostly cause when I walk most of the kiddos are at school. When I walk in the evenings - which sometimes I do - there is a lot more activity on the road. When I walk in the mornings - I will see others walking as well. I have meant a few really nice people by walking there. I love watching the squirrels playing chase, hearing the birds chatter, seeing the squirrels playing keep away with the dogs. It is just a great place to walk.

Another great detail to where I walk is that part of the walk is up hill and part of the walk is down hill and part of it is flat ground. That up and down is great - for challenging me. A couple of years ago when I went to the health seminar - Dr. B shared with us how when you are walking it is great to mix up your walk by walking fast or running for a bit and then going back to normal speed for a while. Well by my walking up hill and down hill - and back and forth since I go around a circle which is the hill and down hill area - I challenge myself just fine.

So now my walking is much easier and easier to resist talking myself out of going. It is easy. I don't have to put any effort other than walking into it. And I love the place in which I walk. It is relaxing and great for my soul.

And if I get tired of where I am walking - I can always go back to the park and walk on the rail. I have options and that is great!

I hope you, too, have a place near your home that you are able to walk. It's really good for you. :o)

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Ok - for those of you that prayed for me about my dentist appointment, I just want to report that it went great - so much better than I thought it would. Thanks for the prayers :O)

Getting UFO's Finished

This week end my husband was out of town with our youth group from our church. I stayed home for a couple of reason- my eye- trust me - it was the most blood shot I have ever had my eye - red all the way around my eye. There is still quite a bit of redness in my eye as I type. The other reason that I stayed home is to take care of our animals. We have the zebra finches now and they really need fresh water and food every day. In the future - I will see if on of our sons will take care of the animals so I can go but with my eye in pretty bad shape and having to be careful- we thought it would be best for me to stay home.

Well I took advantage of the quiet house and I spent some time in my sewing room. This coming Friday is my first Block of the Month for the new year- and so I took some time this week end to finish the last couple of blocks from last year. That way I could start this year out fresh. Last year I did both blocks- but this year I have only signed up for 1 block. When you do two blocks you have to pay for one each month - so by not signing up for the second block this year - I will be able to save money. Things have been tight and I am trying to cut back where I can. And this was certainly an area in which I could easily save my family money.

For this new year - I am thinking I will do a series on putting the blocks together. Just in case there are some of you ladies out there that would be interested in learning more about quilting. This year will be a learning experience for me as well- we are using two new sets of Marti Mitchell templates that we have never used before. So there will be new things to learn. I think you all will enjoy it.

So once I got done with the BOM's- I decided to look and see what I had to make more Thanksgiving place mats. Last year or so - I made 6 of them. Well our family is growing - along with each of our sons having girlfriends. One of the girlfriends Mother does not have very much family left - so we will probably include her as well. And who knows who else will end up coming over. This will be the first year in a LONG time that I will not be working my tail off at the bakery the days and weeks before Thanksgiving. It will be a nice change. I can actually spend some time working on a menu and getting the house ready. It will be nice. I am looking forward to it - especially the cooler weather.

The place mats I made last year:

The place mats I just made:

My place mats are not exactly like the other six- but that is fine.

The backing is different also:

The backing of the original 6 place mats is plain brown. So the pumpkins do kind of liven them up.

Actually I think that I like the new ones better any way. God has blessed by me having the fabric's that I needed or that I could work with in order to put them together. And I am very happy to have that job in the process and with plenty of time to finish them up totally for Thanksgiving.

By the way - UFO- stands for Un Finished Objects (projects)

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Also if you wouldn't mind - I have a dentist appointment this morning and would really appreciate prayers- thanks :o)